Rising High

What is not to like about this film? I can't for the life of me understand the poor reviews. Yes, there is some exaggeration but the amount of things it manages to achieve in a mere 90 minutes is pure finesse and awe inspiring. Likeable protagonist, decent story, outstanding execution. I loved it. The energy is infectious and the music was amazing.

+ Music + Acting + 90 odd minutes of energy + Great viewing

I will call this quite original, in german movie standards, its all comes to the question of money, how to do it, how to boost it , who to play fraudulent games against, and at the same time keep up the appearances in love and life.

its a genial story, with a fast shifting plot, where the whole story are flashbacks to the past during an interview made in prison. the twists and the spontaniousity are fun, the main actors are cute and high quality acting, the score are as usual electronica the german style with some extreme rythm sections that catches the spiritual wibes in the film.

so if you like the silent kind of heist, or fraud or racketeering or whatever its called without a kill and a bloody gore, but a fun and ingenious money making caracter, then the grumpy old man can recommend.

This wasn't a bad movie. The german setting gives it a different energy, it's well acted and the story is well told. The rise and fall of the main character plays on different levels of his life and this makes him a character you come to know and like. But the movie feels like a long episode of a TV show. Nothing wrong with that ofcourse, but therefor I agree with the 5.7 rating here on IMDb.

I noticed two different movie references that could possibly have inspired this plot, 'Catch Me If You Can' (2002) and 'The Big Short' (2015). Perhaps the only reference to 'The Wolf of Wall Street' (2013) happend after 1 hour and 8 minutes.

A recommended German Wolf of Wallstreet clone

I enjoyed Rising High aka Betonrausch. It is a German mixture of comedy and drama. As far as I know the story is fictional, but it is presented as if it actually happened. It is the story of a young businessman who becomes very rich very quickly through fraud and deception and then very quickly loses everything again. It is reminiscent of The Wolf of Wall Street, without Betonrausch ever reaching the quality of the Hollywood blockbuster.

But nevertheless a very affordable German film. Germany is not known for their jokes and humor, but the understated light comic style works well for this film. Characters are explored just enough and the film never gets boring. And furthermore, all the glam from The Wolf of Wall Street is represented: fast cars, expensive tailor-made suits, large villas, wild parties and the necessary drugs. It is beautifully portrayed, with a good soundtrack. The acting is okay.

For fans of The Wolf of Wall Street quite a recommended film on Netflix. So a well deserved 7.